Brazil’s Bolsonaro arrested days before start of 27-year prison sentence

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was detained by Brazilian federal police just before his 27-year prison sentence for attempting to hold a coup attempt was set to begin, according to his attorney and aide.

Bolsonaro, who has been under house arrest since August, was detained on Saturday, according to his attorney.

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One of his attorneys, Celso Vilardi, told the AFP news agency, “He has been imprisoned, but I don’t know why.”

The embattled former leader was taken to the police headquarters in Brasilia, according to a close aide who spoke with The Associated Press.

Andriely Cirino, Bolsonaro’s agent, confirmed to AP that the arrest occurred on Saturday at around 6 a.m. (03:00 GMT).

The organization stated in a brief statement that it acted at the Supreme Court of Brazil’s request and did not name Bolsonaro.

At the time of publication, neither Brazil’s federal police nor the Supreme Court provided more information.

Sentenced for attempting a coup

According to Cirino, the 70-year-old former president was taken to the federal police headquarters from his home in the gated Jardim Botanico neighborhood.

After the far-right leader’s appeals for his life sentence for leading a coup attempt were overturned, Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, was scheduled to start serving his sentence sometime next week, according to local media.

The 70-year-old Bolsonaro’s legal team had previously argued that he should spend his 27-year sentence at home for a failed coup attempt in 2022, arguing that jail time would be harmful to his health.

Following the 2022 election, which he lost, Bolsonaro was found guilty in September of trying to oust Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from power.

A week after Lula’s inauguration, rioters storm government buildings, drawing comparisons to the riot at the Capitol on January 6 when his closest ally, President Donald Trump, lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Trump has called the prosecution of his far-right ally a “witch-hunt” and made it a significant issue in US relations with Brazil by imposing severe tariffs on the nation as retribution.

On the heels of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur last month, Trump and Lula had a “convenient” meeting that Brazil described as constructive, boosting optimism for improved relations following US tariff enforcement.